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Best Gas Grills 2016

Best Rated Gas Grills

The best gas grills under 500 dollars make it an absolute joy to cook outside in your backyard. This price is going to find you a quality unit that is built to last and also provide even cooking and be easy to maintain and clean. And you will find a good choice of high quality portable barbecues too if you are looking for something a bit more robust for your tailgating. Grills do take a lot of punishment both from cooking and from being outside facing the elements as they often are.

With grills you do generally get the quality that you are prepared to pay for so an 800 dollar grill is very much likely to perform better and be a lot more durable than something that only costs $100. But even if your budget is a bit tight you can still find a grill that will give you good service. The better you maintain your grill and keep it clean after each use the longer it will last you anyway. If you are a beginner at grilling or on a limited budget then really you dont want to be spending more than $500 on your grill.

What Size Grill

Although your budget might determine the type you grill you can afford its also important to consider the size of grill that you need. If its only you and your partner that you are likely to be grilling for there is little point spending lots of money on a huge grill that could feed a small army in no time. You also need to consider how much space you have for your grill as its likely that unless you are purchasing a portable model, the grill is likely to take up some space somewhere.

How To Clean Your Grill

Cleaning Your Grill With An Onion

Top 5 Best Charcoal Grills

The Draw Of The Grill

So what is it about grilling food that we love so much. There is something about that combination of raw meats such as beef, lamb, pork and more plus vegetables grilling and cooking right in front of us at high heats, and having the fire in plain sight that seems to bring a warm feeling inside. Its also that grills general give off great smells as they create smoke and odours from the food that draw everyone in and make them hungry too.

So its that combination of smells and flavours that makes grilling food out in the back yard as popular as every year after year. It also lets us go back in a small way to how our ancestors would have had to prepare food before all of our modern conveniences. These days the grill doesn’t just have to be wood burning, we can use charcoal, or gas which is even simpler and cleaner. Plus modern grills are designed to keep everything contained, clean and safe as far as possible.

Grills these days range from larger models designed for use in any garden or for cookouts and usually feature wheels to make them easy enough to move around. But there are also small gas and charcoal models that are designed to be portable. Those are especially useful if you do a lot of camping or tailgating, as they are designed to not take up a huge amount of space and to be light enough to carry and move around easily.

Gas grills are easy to use and come with less mess or fuss. They are great for those of us that want to grill without the hassle. Charcoal grills involve getting your coals lit and to the right temperature. That takes time and a little bit of work, but the smoke and flavour that comes from charcoal can really add to the tastiness of your food, so if that’s the most important thing for you then it may well be worth the effort.

CharBroil Infrared 480 Grill

Charbroil Gas Grills

The CharBroil Infrared 480 is a 3 burner grill that is well made and offers good extras to help you get the most out of your grilling. It features a good range of temperatures from the burners which means that you get accurate control to avoid undercooking or overcooking parts of your food.

The 3 burners come with temperature gauges and any serious barbecuer knows that having accurate temperature control and readings is the secret of getting really good food off the grill. With 2 side shelves you also have lots of extra space to make it easy to work with this grill. Electronic ignition means you should have no problem starting this grill every time and getting cooking fast.

The top features of the CharBroil Infrared 480 are:

• 30,000 BTUs from the 3 burners.
• Additional 10,000 BTUs from the side burner.
• Side shelves fold away for convenient storage when not in use.
• Easy to move around with locking wheels.
• 660 square inches of cooking surface in total
• Features very even cooking giving great results using this grill

Gas Grill Buying Guide

Buying A BBQ Grill

When grilling food one of the most important things is maintaining an accurate temperature and keeping that temperature even and consistent will go a long way to improving the quality of the food you get from your grill. This is often the problem with using cheaper grills as they struggle to maintain a consistent temperature and poor design often means they lose heat.

So ensure you get a grill with either an accurate temperature gauge or purchase a good meat and appliance thermometers that you can use to get accurate temperature readings. The build quality of the grill is also important too. Good quality grills will allow you to set the burners to different levels so you can achieve different temperatures in each section of your grill, as you may be grilling more than one type of food at a time.

Warming racks are also a great feature that help you keep your food warm without burning on the main grill or letting the food go cold. Side burners also give you more cooking areas but are also handy if you need to heat up sauces and other things without having to take space up on your main grill or having to run back to the main kitchen in your house every time.

Coleman Roadtrip Portable Grill

Best Portable Grill

The Coleman Roadtrip is a great grill to buy if you need a grill you can take on the road. Its also a great purchase if you have a small home and want to a grill that doesn’t take up much space and is easy to move around and put away if needed. Its ideal if you want a grill to take camping or to use when you go and watch sports.

Dual burners on this grill will generate 20000 BTUs of heat. It also come with interchangeable cooking surfaces that allow you to use it as a grill, a griddle or even a stove. The ability to collapse and fold away allows you to throw this grill in the back of the car very easily. It also features 285 square inches of cooking surface, side extensions that make it easy to rest things on ,storage hooks, drip tray and electronic push button ignition.

The included stand makes it easy to use anywhere, or without the stand its great to use on top of a table. The lockable lit means that everything stays secure when being transported around too. This unit can run a on a disposable propane cylinder or a propane tank. Customers love the fact that the Coleman Roadtrip is very easy to clean up after use.

If you are used to getting grills that are too big to move inside, and end up rusting away after a year or too just from being out in all weathers, this grill is also a great option for that too. Also because its actually designed to be moved around and be compact, its very easy to use outdoors, cleanup and then put away somewhere that’s not damp. And no more rusting away of the grill

Grilling vs Broiling – Whats The Difference

If you have been using barbecues / grills for any amount of time or are just getting started you may have used the terms grilling and broiling used, and used together and interchangeably. But was is the difference.

The difference between the two is the location of the heat. They both rely on direct heat, but grilling is basically heat from below, whereas broiling is heat from above. This makes a difference because heat rises, so you tend to get hotter temperatures from grilling rather than broiling. But in some cases broiling can be more appropriate.

For instance if you want extra cooking for the top of your food specifically then you may want to broil it. For instance if you have a cheesy topping or something similar, then you may want extra heat on top to melt that or crisp it up for instance.

One thing you wont get from a broiler though is that smokey flavour you get from the grill. This is because with grilling the fat can drip onto your coals or charcoal and burn to create the smoke that adds additional flavour to you food. So broiling will tend to give a very different flavour to your food than grilling.

Top Grilling Tips

There are a few tips that will help you get the most out of your grilling experience and help to make your bbq food come out better.

Oil Your Rack

When you first put food on the grill have you noticed that it tends to stick and flake of when you try and move it. Then once you have cooked a few items its fine. The problem is that the food is stick because the rack is dry. so the food is coming into direct contact with the rack. By rubbing a little oil on the rack this will put a nice layer there that would build up from the grease in the food anyway. Use a cloth or paper towel lightly soaked in oil to help those first bits of food from sticking to your grate.

Use Good Quality Accessories With Your Grill

We tend to grill all sorts of foods these days, such as simple hot dogs and burgers, right the way up to steaks and fish. To make the most of these foods we need to handle them well and ensure they dont fall apart as we move them around the grill and turn them over. So make sure you have accessories to ensure its easy to handle and move your food. Get tools with long handles so there is no chance of you burning your food or your self in the process. Handy tools like basting brushes make is easy to add sauces to your food, and large spatulas also make working with food on your barbecue easy, such as flipping a large steak. Long steel tongs are perfect for turning sausages without breaking the skin and losing all the juice.

The other point about using proper accessories is not just about making it easier to work with your food. Grills put out heat at high temperatures, and these are likely to damage ordinary utensils that you may just grab from the kitchen. Proper accessories designed for use with grill will be made from stronger steel and also have wooden handles to stop the heat from transferring so its safe to handle with care.

Store Your Grill Away After Use

Once you have used your grill and cleaned it there is little point in leaving it outside and uncovered to be attacked by the elements. Ensure that you really do give it a good clean once cool then fond a good home for it. Preferably somewhere that is not damp so that your grill wont get rusty. And if you can get a cover for it to help to keep it clean and dry then that is even better and will help to ensure your grill has a longer life.

When choosing your grill look for models that provide extra storage or hooks so that once cleaned you can keep all your accessories with your grill so that you dont have to hunt around for them afterwards.

Gas Grill or not Gas Grill

Of course the debate on gas grills vs charcoal grills has raged on for years. The are even debates on whether natural gas or propane gas os the preferred option. The biggest pro for gas grills is simply speed. Switch on the gas, light up and you are ready to cook immediately. Unlike charcoal grills, gas provides its heat as soon as you light the flame. And of course you need to dispose of the ash and clean the whole grill afterwards.

With charcoal even the best process for lighting it is going to take you 15 minutes to get heat and maybe a bit more time to where is really useable. But of course sometimes we want that extra smokey taste to enhance the flavor of our foods, but other times we just want to cook and go, and this is where gas grills will always win. The other really large advantage of gas grills are that you can get accurate control on the heat which means you can have fine control of the temperature, which is important when you want to cook your food properly without over or undercooking. Add to that that a tank of propane gas can be more cost effective than charcoal as they can last a long time.

When looking at gas grills you may be wondering if it would be more convenient to attached your grill to a natural gas line. This is definitely a good option if you do a lot of grilling and have a large grill that you dont need to move around. Thats the downside is that once you switch to natural gas for you grill, your grill is staying in that same place. So you really need to have a nice space that you want your grill to stay permanently if you choose for natural gas. If you need to be mobile and dont want to keep your grill in he same place all the time or want to be able to store it away, then sticking with the propane bottles may be the best option.

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